TheSamba.com :: View topic

Fri Oct 18, 2019 12:44 pm

1965 Beetle....

What brand is your favorite tire?

I am shopping for tires and see a few choices and I would appreciate your opinion.

Thanks.

Fri Oct 18, 2019 2:14 pm

vredestein since Pirelli doesnt make 165's any more

Fri Oct 18, 2019 2:28 pm

I like the tires that my local Discount tire carries. The price match also.

Fri Oct 18, 2019 2:38 pm

Michelin are first , Firestone are second . Michelin are on my 1979 convertible and Firestone on my 1967 beetle sedan.

Fri Oct 18, 2019 6:37 pm

Does ANYBODY make factory thin-line (3/4 inch, etc) tires anymore ...let alone ones that will fit an older VW? I put new 15" thin-line Coopers on Buick Century about 5 years ago (it was a Buick, after all!!) ...but haven't been able to find any since. What's that all about??
But, to answer the OP's question: if it's not a show car, but just an occasional driver, I'd go for the least expensive available ....especially after I've spent all the rest of my money fixing up the car!!

Fri Oct 18, 2019 7:51 pm

Hello, Denny B, were's practically neighbors 8) . "What tires?" is a very subjective question as it depends on what you are looking for; low price, longevity, as close to original look as possible, etc.

For my '67 I had Sussex HP Metrics (165R15) installed in March of 2003 and they are still on the car and performing beautifully! I, too, have a '65 and think the black wall tires look right at home, versus some fat whitewalls that I see some folks run. But that's all a matter of opinion :P

On other non-VW cars, I run only performance Michelins and they are NOT what they used to be. Modern ones dry rot within a few years. Garbage. By contrast, I still have Michelin MXV4's on a 1974 450SL and they were installed in 1987.

Digger89L wrote: Does ANYBODY make factory thin-line (3/4 inch, etc) tires anymore ...let alone ones that will fit an older VW?
I have had success with custom whitewalls for my 1979 Super Beetle from Diamondback, but they only vulcanize custom whitewalls to modern radials - not bias ply. You give them the thickness of the whitewall you want and its placement distance from the rim and they will make it for you somewhere in the neighborhood of $225 each, but prices may have changed:

For a more authentic Bias Ply look, there's the Coker Tire option, but you can't customize the whitewall size. This is 1" whitewall and frankly, I would much prefer a thinner, 3/4" one, as originally styled, but look at the "fluted" edge of the bias ply tire; it fits the vintage of the car nearly perfectly. Click to enlarge the photo and look at the passenger front tire.
$181.00 Each
COK-556658
Tire, Coker Firestone, 560-15, Bias-
Ply, 1.0 in. Whitewall, Each
(Mfr. #: 556658)

By comparison, here's the original spare tire from the KG, a Vredestein with the whitewall that came with the car from the factory. Note the distinct fluted edge of the bias ply tire and the proper thickness whitewall.

Sat Oct 19, 2019 1:10 am

About 10 years ago I used Vredestein Sprint Classic. They were very good tires but they were also quite expensive. The last 10 years I have used Nankang. I have never had any problems with them. The prices are good and you even get them with a white stripe.

Sat Oct 19, 2019 6:00 am

Quote: The last 10 years I have used Nankang. I have never had any problems with them. The prices are good and you even get them with a white stripe.

That's very interesting: Nankang tire sellers in North America (Cip1 and Walmart, etc.) say that white-wall Nankang tires are not available. Do you have a model #, etc. that I can reference?

Sat Oct 19, 2019 9:20 am

Digger89L wrote: Quote: The last 10 years I have used Nankang. I have never had any problems with them. The prices are good and you even get them with a white stripe.

That's very interesting: Nankang tire sellers in North America (Cip1 and Walmart, etc.) say that white-wall Nankang tires are not available. Do you have a model #, etc. that I can reference?

I have also used Nankang’s in the 145/15 on two different vehicles for the past 20 years. I haven’t seen white wall Nankang’s listed at common commercial outlets, but Diamond Back tires use them for their white walls. Since they install the stripe, they can do any size white, yellow, red, or blue on any tire you want.

https://dbtires.com/product/short-narrow-front-tires/

I’ve seen many more swear at Coker tires, than swear by them.

Sun Oct 20, 2019 4:27 am

Digger89L wrote: Quote: The last 10 years I have used Nankang. I have never had any problems with them. The prices are good and you even get them with a white stripe.

That's very interesting: Nankang tire sellers in North America (Cip1 and Walmart, etc.) say that white-wall Nankang tires are not available. Do you have a model #, etc. that I can reference?

They are called Nankang NA-1 White stripe. I have them in the 165/80-15 size on both of my beetles. They are available in northern Europe where I live.
I ordered mine from this Finnish webshop.
https://www.tyrelia.com/na-1-white-ring-p-64946.html

As most whitewall/stripe tires do they are delivered with some blue gunk that protects the white stripe during shipping. But it comes off easy with some screeching hot water, a squirt of dishwashing liquid and a scrubbing sponge. The first time I put these tires on my car I removed the protection before I took the wheels to the tireshop. That was not very smart because then they got black fingerprints all over them. It washed of easy enough but now I am not taking it off before the whees are on the car.

Sun Oct 20, 2019 9:41 am

I checked with a Canadian Nankang dealer / distributor. He says the Nankang 165/80r15" 87t Na-1 Pro Street Passenger White Wall Tire is not available in North America, and neither are any other 15" tire brands available whitewalls. Weird that the tire manufacturers would do that!

Sun Oct 20, 2019 10:00 am

That is weird. I would think that many classic car owners in north America would be interested in 15" tires with white stripes. If one really wants them Tyrelia in Finland would probably ship to the US or Canada, but the total price could end up very high.

Sun Oct 20, 2019 11:02 am

White walls have long since fallen out of fashion in the US. I wanted a set for my Grandfathers 1995 Buick Roadmaster a few years back to replace the factory ones, and there wasn’t a single manufacturer that offered a white wall in the needed size. Tire companies are going to make what they sell. The classic car market is but a tiny fraction of what the mainstream market is.

Sun Oct 20, 2019 1:08 pm

That makes a lot of sense. Where I live classic cars are very popular. I live in a small place with around 1000 people and there are many cars from the 70s and older even in the closest neighborhood. And a lot of us really like white walls. A lot of people also run the loose white walls that is held in place between the tire and the rim.

Sun Oct 20, 2019 5:42 pm

I've been running Vitour Galaxy R1 for 2 years now.

Sun Oct 20, 2019 7:34 pm

vwfreek61 wrote: I've been running Vitour Galaxy R1 for 2 years now.

Looks like a white wall tire that is available as 155/80 as well as 165. A big plus is the 130MPH rating. :D
https://www.performanceplustire.com/tires-for-sale/vitour-tires/galaxy-r1-whitewall/

Sun Oct 20, 2019 8:59 pm

Yeah ....that's a great look, in my opinion. MUCH better than the really wide whitewalls. I had the narrow whitewalls on the rear of my 1966 Deluxe back in 1969 ...that's the look I'm going for. Too bad the Vitour tires aren't available in Canada ...the 32% dollar difference, plus shipping from the USA, prices them out of my range.

Mon Oct 21, 2019 12:00 am

vwfreek61 wrote: I've been running Vitour Galaxy R1 for 2 years now.

One of my friends also use the Vitour tires. He is very happy with them.

Mon Oct 21, 2019 2:50 am

While selecting those tires we should also take into consideration what is the safe useful life of those tires. It may surprise you but for average use daily drivers logging 12-15k miles per year you are looking at 3 to 4 years, certain high mileage models 80 to 90k a bit more and that’s with monthly inflation checks and on time rotations without adverse conditions. Tire experts including manufacturers warranties are good for 6 years but some users can be lulled into going further. The absolute maximum is 10 years under perfect conditions, this means climate controlled warehouse in storage.

Tires left out side exposed to ozone and UV rays, hot climates and near salt water can expect reduced service life. It really gets down to safety but if all you do is drive off and on a trailer or weekends to get an ice cream cone they could last longer. I just bought tires for a truck and spent nearly a grand so I can surely empathize with those wishing to milk every last mile out of these damn things. I used NHTSA, consumer reports,Car and Driver, Discount Tire, Michelin,Continental, Pirelli, and a few lesser knowns for reference.

I’m even old enough to remember buying and using recap tires on my cars. These were OK for in town driving but even the places selling them warned against sustained freeway speeds and yes I’ve had some separate at speed. Thank God these things are illegal for passenger cars now.